A half-season coaching the Syracuse Eagles was enough for AHL hall-of-famer Art Stratton

Art Stratton was one of the most prolific playmakers in the history of the American Hockey League.Courtesy of the American Hockey League

When the Syracuse Eagles folded after their one and only season in 1974-75, there was reason to worry that the departure of that team represented another serious blow to the city's ability to ever fully support an AHL franchise.

Two long decades later the Syracuse Crunch came along in 1994-95 to bury such worries under 21 seasons and counting of thriving membership in that league.

But the demise of the Eagles did forever drag one thing down with it — Art Stratton's coaching career.

Stratton made his pro coaching debut as the head coach of the Eagles, which was the third of four pre-Crunch AHL franchises to drop the puck in Syracuse (the Syracuse Firebirds followed as another one-year wonder, from 1979-80).

Stratton lasted 46 games, compiling a record of 10-29-7 before getting canned by what he said was tightwad management.

Stratton never coached again, a void that he said bothers him not in the least. And until a reporter recently contacted him at his Winnipeg home to reminisce about the Eagles, Stratton said that he had never thought nor been asked about that part of his life.

"I had no interest in (coaching again). That left a bad taste in my mouth,'' said Stratton, 79. "It turned out good. I stayed home, built a good future for myself. It turned out OK.''

Stratton had already crafted enough pillows in his hockey career so that his legacy in the sport enjoyed a soft landing. A two-time AHL MVP, Stratton holds the record for most times leading the league in assists (four), ranks sixth all-time with 555 helpers while totaling 766 points in 669 career AHL games.

He will be inducted into the AHL Hall of Fame as part of the league's Class of 2015 at the All-Star Classic in Utica. The ceremony is Monday at the Turning Stone Resort.

These days, Stratton is enjoying his semi-retirement in Winnipeg, a city that he dubiously bills as the "Miami of Canada.'' He works at a local golf club, maintaining golf carts, doing odd jobs and hitting the links whenever that city's famously brutal climate permits.

"It's a great job. I couldn't ask for anything better,'' he said. "I used to shoot 85 and under. Now, I shoot 85 and over.''

Stratton, a center who once posted an AHL-record nine assists in a game, wound down his AHL playing career in 1973-74 at age 37 by winning his second MVP award and pacing the league with 71 assists with the Rochester Americans.

That team was coached by the legendary Don Cherry. After that season Cherry was named head coach of the Boston Bruins. Stratton said he was asked to replaced Cherry in Rochester, but instead he opted for the challenge of running a new AHL team in Syracuse, the Eagles.

Stratton said he was promised complete control of player signings, but that wasn't the case. He said management looked to cut personnel costs and dumped a roster full of lower-level players on him.

"You look at the roster, most of them were like Eastern League hockey players,'' Stratton said. "I knew I had a big problem with players. It was just a poor team. We lacked in every area. I had an Eastern League team playing in Syracuse, which was no fun.''

Management had no money to improve the product on the ice because the Syracuse hockey dollar was divided. The city was also home to the North American Hockey League's Blazers, filling the decrepit War Memorial with more pro games than the market could support. The Eagles averaged 2,349 fans per game.

"That was a rinky-dink rink. I remember the dressing rooms weren't very good,'' Stratton said. "They (the crowds) weren't that great because we weren't winning.''

Stratton described it as almost a relief when he was let go.

"I said, 'Fine, that's not a problem. Don't worry about me,''' Stratton said. "I was double-crossed (on player moves), basically. I was happy to get out of there.''

Stratton immediately jumped back onto the ice by playing the rest of that season with the Richmond Robins of the AHL, posting eight goals and 18 assists in 29 games.

He played one more season of pro hockey the following year, with Hampton of the Southern Hockey League. He then left hockey for good, returning to Winnipeg to work in the wholesale lumber business.

"In a way, it was OK. The coaching side of it is a tough business,'' Stratton said. "I had made up my mind that I wasn't going to go into that racket.''

Today, he was unaware that the Crunch later came along to establish an AHL foothold in Syracuse.

"Isn't that something?'' he said. "If they have some half-decent hockey players, they'll be successful. If you don't have the players, what are you going to do?''

Stratton knows he came along at the right time as a player. He made his debut in the AHL in 1955-56 and played 669 games with seven teams in that league through 1974-75. He also played 95 NHL games with the Rangers, Red Wings, Blackhawks, Penguins and Flyers.

During his era, older players filled AHL rosters and were relatively unchallenged by prospects. Today, winning a league MVP award nine years apart, including a second one at Stratton's age of 37 with Rochester, is inconceivable.

"There was a lot of veterans. There were mostly experienced players,'' Stratton said. "When you went to a team as a rookie, boy, you had to be a pretty good rookie to get on the ice. It was an old-boys club. You had to be accepted. You had to prove yourself. If you had one or two changes on the team in a year, that was it.

"Now, in hockey today, there are so many young guys coming up. I don't think you'll ever see a guy playing 15-20 years again. Those days are gone. These guys today, they start getting 27-28, they start looking over their shoulders.''

That generation of current all-stars, some way younger than their late 20s, will be part of the target audience when Stratton makes his induction speech on Monday.

Stratton knows he's linked to them through the lineage of the sport.

But what message can he relate that strikes a chord of recognition with them? That challenge has him worried.

"What are you going to tell the young guys?'' he said. "You have a crowd of American Hockey League playes. I start talking about the old days, they'll boo me. If I start talking about what happened in 1952, they are going to go, 'Boring.'''